


A Damn Good Teacher

by Gloomier



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Funny, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23079574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gloomier/pseuds/Gloomier
Summary: Iruka passes the teaching torch to his boyfriend (much to his great displeasure).
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 13
Kudos: 141
Collections: Iruka's Birthday Shiritori 2020





	A Damn Good Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Iruka's birthday shiritori event.
> 
> Team Iruka (S)ass Squad's first word is Teacher/Teaching.

Teaching had come pretty easy to Iruka and he liked to believe he had it down pretty well.

Amazingly, in fact.

Fuck modesty.

He was a _damn good_ teacher.

When he began teaching at the academy, Iruka did so much work overhauling the archaic teaching methods by cultivating an efficient yet inclusive and interactive curriculum. It was because of all his hard work that the academy saw a rapid increase in a graduation success rate that resulted in more genin being accepted by jounin-sensei.

Maybe he did call Kakashi a picky jerk when he had failed three groups of Iruka’s genin graduates. Iruka was proud of that curriculum, thank you very much. He couldn’t help but be offended by Kakashi’s dismissal. But after his boyfriend laid about his apartment, sulkily complaining that Iruka was mean, Iruka decided to hear him out (after he cuddled his mopey idiot a bit).

The discussion had been very enlightening, to say the least. While Iruka’s teaching process did vastly improve the basic skills the pre-genin learned, there was still a noticeable gap in their kits.

That gap was teamwork.

So Iruka did his best to adjust his teaching to include more team building activities.

He wasn’t going to lie, the activities were a complete and utter _mess._

Iruka’s most recent group of graduates had been a bunch of hellions, Naruto especially. Since reconciling with the fact that Naruto was not the Nine-Tails nor did he slaughter many innocents including Iruka’s parents, Iruka came to love the kid. He was the little brother Iruka had always wanted. Maybe he was more of an unofficially-adopted son than a brother at this point. However, it was near-fucking-impossible to get him to work well with others.

Naruto always had to do everything on his own. It drove Iruka up the wall.

It was why Iruka took a special interest in the post-graduation test to see if the jounin-sensei would accept Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Then he had found out that Hiruzen had given all three of them to Kakashi, of all people.

Of all his students, those three were the least compatible with each other where teamwork was concerned.

It was going to be a fucking _slaughter._

And it was.

Iruka and Kakashi hid behind a tree, watching as Kakashi’s shadow clone poked Naruto in the ass with his fingers in the tiger hand seal. Naruto was sent flying, loudly, into the nearby pond.

“A thousand years of death? Really?” Iruka hissed angrily. He wanted to smack the shit out of Kakashi. That was so wildly inappropriate for a jutsu, and it wasn’t even a real jutsu!

“He’s gotta learn somehow,” Kakashi smiled at him unabashedly.

“I’m going to murder you,” Iruka seethed, “And no one will find the body.”

Kakashi was a horrible teacher. Iruka was even mildly offended someone would give his porn-reading boyfriend students, to begin with.

Kakashi stepped closer, crowding him against the tree they were hiding behind.

“Now, now, Iruka. Don’t be that way.” Kakashi crooned as he nuzzled into Iruka’s neck.

Iruka wanted to kill him, he _really_ did.

“You’re supposed to be _watching_ your future students, Kakashi—” Iruka whispered furiously, but Kakashi cut him off with a kiss.

Iruka did his very best to shove his stupid boyfriend away, but his traitorous fingers curled tightly into the sleeves of Kakashi’s shirt, keeping him close. He slowly relaxed as Kakashi kissed the anger and tension out of him. Iruka was so far gone that he had forgotten why he was out here with Kakashi in the first place...

“Haha! You’re overconfident, sensei!” Naruto yelled, breaking the spell of their impromptu makeout session. “That’s why you weren’t ready for a shadow clone attack, my best jutsu!”

Iruka roughly shoved Kakashi away, glaring at him, and turned just in time to see a bunch of Naruto clones sprinting towards Kakashi’s shadow clone.

God, Naruto was such a knucklehead announcing his attack like that. But he’d give props to the kid later for catching the clone off guard. There was genuine surprise in its voice when Naruto grappled it from behind.

“Oh my god!” Iruka slapped his hand over his mouth as he watched the Kakashi clone replace itself with one of Naruto’s using the substitution jutsu. “He fucking punched himself!” he snerked.

Kakashi chuckled right along with him when Naruto fell for the next trap, leaving him dangling from a tree.

“I know I taught him better than that,” Iruka groaned.

Kakashi gently patted his shoulder, “It’s alright Iruka, I won’t hold this against your amazing teacher reputation.”

Iruka fucking _knew_ he taught all three of them better than that.

After the kids had been sufficiently terrorized (and Iruka untied Naruto from the post), Iruka went home and moped on the couch while Kakashi filled his new team in about their first mission together.

As hilarious as it was to see the three genin go up against a shinobi way beyond their skill level, he felt a little discouraged as a teacher. He kind of expected Naruto to make a bit of a fool of himself (which was a big portion of his charm), but Iruka did not expect Sasuke or Sakura to fall into the same pitfall. Sasuke was a bit on the arrogant side (but what genius wasn’t?), relying on only his skill alone to try and take a bell instead of seeking help. Sakura, on the other hand, was too distracted by her infatuation with Sasuke to realize she’d played right into Kakashi’s hands.

They had all passed in the end, sure, but they were lucky that Kakashi had given them a second chance to prove they could work, to some degree, as a team.

Logically Iruka knew the kids would grow into great shinobi as time went on, but—

“Hey, you okay?”

“Hmmm?” Iruka hummed, blinking owlishly up at Kakashi. He hadn’t even realized his boyfriend had returned.

“You look upset,” Kakashi commented as he perched himself on the edge of the coffee table next to the couch.

Iruka closed his eyes and sighed. “I had hoped the kids would’ve made a better impression.”

“Oh, they made an impression alright,” Kakashi chuckled softly. “You taught them well, Iruka,” he added after a beat, then leaned in and kissed Iruka’s forehead.

Iruka immediately melted into the couch as the tension left his body, feeling the comfort of both Kakashi’s words and the loving gesture immediately.

He opened his eyes and shifted his head to look at his boyfriend.

“So… What did you think of them?” Iruka murmured.

“I’d say I have my work cut out for me,” Kakashi snickered. He settled an elbow on his leg, then propped his chin up in the palm of his hand, staring at the wall thoughtfully. “They weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either. They all surprised me in their own ways.”

“Okay, but what did you _think?”_ Iruka asked pointedly.

Kakashi’s eyes shifted down to meet Iruka’s, then shrugged.

“I’d say they’ve got potential.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Mouthful](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23188513) by [ladyxdaydream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyxdaydream/pseuds/ladyxdaydream)




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